What parents hope their kids get out from ivy league?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s kind of ironic that while everyone is busy doing all sorts of “great things” just to squeeze into the big-name institutions, some of the most genuinely brilliant work is actually coming from elsewhere. Think of DeepMind out of Cambridge, or the cancer vaccine work at Oxford.

As a parent of a young child, it makes me wonder whether it might be time to move somewhere else.

You just have to expand your definition of “big-name institutions.” Plenty of people would include Cambridge and Oxford in that.

[Anonymous]

No one cares about Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, keep in mind not all parents are paying full price. My DC attends an Ivy (Brown). We pay about half full COA. We are what most people would consider affluent but not by DCUM standards (250K HHI) and have 529 savings, but not enough for all four years. We have another in college, which is a big part of the reasons we are only paying COA.

And here's the answer to the question: it's peer group, but not for marrying/networking purposes. Rather, it's peer group for learning potential. My DC is truly "brought up" by others around them. They relish being around others smarter than them, even if only perceived. They thrive in groups and by being challenged. There are lots of smart kids at our state flagship (which is where I went and this DS's sibling goes) but it's not the same environment. It's just not.

The Brown environment is good for my kid. Not every Ivy would be, though. Choosing an Ivy environment doesn't make a kid or parent a snob.

I'm a little tired of the "they're only chasing prestige" comments. It is possible that a school that happens to be an Ivy is a good environment for a kid. Otherwise, do these commenters feel they should just shut Ivys down? Please keep in mind that these (among many other schools) are places where research is done that changes lives. They are real schools, where real teaching and learning occurs. I feel like people forget that sometimes.

This. As discussed at length on DCUM, the wealthy/connected and the rest don't mix much at the Ivies.
My kid is at one and it's almost two schools in one. You're not going there from Loudoun County or even from DC and leaving with a Rolodex of BFFs from Manhattan.

You won't if you don't try. My DCPS grad is at an Ivy, in a fraternity (not the "best", but also not the "worst") and has a pretty good rolodex of BFFs, but more importantly, a pretty good rolodex of wealthy alums who he has met with on several occasions (both at reunion/homecoming events and on his own reaching out in NYC, SF et al).

Did you intend to write "gold Rolex" ?

No

[Anonymous]

Read British family biographies.

You will understand more than any poster here can snippet as to the advantages of Ivy…but middle class kids who spend their time in library miss out on true advantage so….

ChatGPT recommends:

The Macmillans 1870–1914 – Charles Morgan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one cares about Brown.

Nobel prize winner in economics this year. Sorry you don’t care. Important research work on innovation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s kind of ironic that while everyone is busy doing all sorts of “great things” just to squeeze into the big-name institutions, some of the most genuinely brilliant work is actually coming from elsewhere. Think of DeepMind out of Cambridge, or the cancer vaccine work at Oxford.

As a parent of a young child, it makes me wonder whether it might be time to move somewhere else.

You just have to expand your definition of “big-name institutions.” Plenty of people would include Cambridge and Oxford in that.

after spending some time on DCUM, I’ve started thinking about schools beyond the Ivy League or even T25 whatever marketing term that people artificially created. The whole college admissions process has turned into something like "The Vain Jackdaw"—just pure silliness. It definitely wasn’t like this when I was applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read British family biographies.

You will understand more than any poster here can snippet as to the advantages of Ivy…but middle class kids who spend their time in library miss out on true advantage so….

ChatGPT recommends:

The Macmillans 1870–1914 – Charles Morgan

Yes. Kids from elite private schools since young age will understand that better.

[Anonymous]

I think the initial question applies to Ivy-type schools and not just narrowly to Ivies. The responses are still applicable.

Note that you can have an Ivy-type experience at “lower” schools. Your odds of doing so there are just a lot lower. And plenty of kids go to Ivies and don’t fully take advantage of it or benefit from it and might as well have saved their money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the initial question applies to Ivy-type schools and not just narrowly to Ivies. The responses are still applicable.

Note that you can have an Ivy-type experience at “lower” schools. Your odds of doing so there are just a lot lower. And plenty of kids go to Ivies and don’t fully take advantage of it or benefit from it and might as well have saved their money.

Over time, I’ve started feeling that the high cost of these big-name colleges is really more about showing off wealth than about education. It’s definitely feeding the parents’ ego, not helping the kids. Students can get just as good an education at any state flagship.

[Anonymous]

1. A credential. An Ivy League degree signals to the world, including future employers, clients, and business partners, that you are a valuable person.
2. Relationships. If you do it right, you get a peer group of people who are going places, and you'll draw on it throughout your life.
3. An education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. A credential. An Ivy League degree signals to the world, including future employers, clients, and business partners, that you are a valuable person.
2. Relationships. If you do it right, you get a peer group of people who are going places, and you'll draw on it throughout your life.
3. An education.

Agree with your 2, 3. About 1. Most people outside of the US only know about Harvard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A credential. An Ivy League degree signals to the world, including future employers, clients, and business partners, that you are a valuable person.
2. Relationships. If you do it right, you get a peer group of people who are going places, and you'll draw on it throughout your life.
3. An education.

Agree with your 2, 3. About 1. Most people outside of the US only know about Harvard

They also know about Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, and maybe to a lesser degree, the others. But in the US, all Ivys represent a valuable credential.

[Anonymous]

Bumper sticker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A credential. An Ivy League degree signals to the world, including future employers, clients, and business partners, that you are a valuable person.
2. Relationships. If you do it right, you get a peer group of people who are going places, and you'll draw on it throughout your life.
3. An education.

Agree with your 2, 3. About 1. Most people outside of the US only know about Harvard

They also know about Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, and maybe to a lesser degree, the others. But in the US, all Ivys represent a valuable credential.

Columbia has even been called a “degree mill” (from my East Asian friends)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A credential. An Ivy League degree signals to the world, including future employers, clients, and business partners, that you are a valuable person.
2. Relationships. If you do it right, you get a peer group of people who are going places, and you'll draw on it throughout your life.
3. An education.

Agree with your 2, 3. About 1. Most people outside of the US only know about Harvard

They also know about Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, and maybe to a lesser degree, the others. But in the US, all Ivys represent a valuable credential.

Not true beyond the fact that the best and brightest from all over the world apply to these schools the UK gives special work visa's to graduates of 20 US Universities, including every Ivy except Dartmouth, along with several other fantastic schools.
As a parent of a student at an Ivy who had several other great choices it was not the "name" it was the opportunities that drew him. In particular as a student interested in interdisciplinary studies across stem and humanities his school was one of the few in the country that had similar level programs in all subjects of interest. He picked it for academic reasons which as parents we understood and supported though we actually wished he would have picked a school closer to home